Something Good Can Work
by StrawberryTenTen
Summary: 'All I Have' re-written; Lily Levantine's just moved into town. With a socially-crippling limp and an unconventional way of thinking, the only thing she's certain of is that she has absolutely no idea what she's doing or where she's going. Future OC/Canon and slash. Rating will probably go up at some point.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Hey guys, I'm back to try my hand at writing again. C: I'm going to attempt re-writing 'All I Have', so be sure to let me know what you think and if you have any suggestions, I'd love to read them! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own The Body/Stand By Me. I am only using it for entertainment purposes.

Claimer: I own this fanfiction and any characters that do not appear in the book/movie. Please do not use without permission.

**Chapter 1 - A Fresh Start**

It was a bright and humid summer's day in late June of 1959. It was especially hot in Castle Rock, a small, easily overlooked town in Oregon. On the outskirts of the town stood a large tree that held a shabby, but durable treehouse; inside, which, were four twelve going-on thirteen-year-old boys. They played cards while simultaneously discussing anything and everything. One of these boys, Gordon 'Gordie' Lachance, changed the current subject of their discussion.

"So that house down the street from mine finally sold; heard the family's moving in today." He put his cards down on the makeshift table, surrendering to the others in favor of taking out a comic book.

"Yeah? Anyone interesting?" Christopher 'Chris' Chambers, the de facto leader of the group asked, not taking his eyes off his own handful of cards.

"Nah, I don't think so. Last I checked, nobody here even knows their last name." He flipped a page, already bored.

"Who the hell cares? It's probably another rich stuck-up family with more rich stuck-up kids and a stuck-up life." Theodore 'Teddy' DuChamp snarled.

"If they were rich, do you really think they'd move here?" Gordie raised an eyebrow, challenging Teddy's prediction.

"Who knows? Maybe they're just stupid like everyone else here." He slammed down a card, glancing up at his friend, who shrugged and went back to reading.

"Or maybe they're nice and they wanna be friends!" Vern Tessio spoke, with a hopeful smile. The other three stopped what they were doing and stared over at him, their facial expressions instantly shooting him down. Vern looked back down at his cards.

"It could happen…" He mumbled, now in a sour mood. The others sighed in annoyance.

Meanwhile, pulling into the town, was a family of four in a beat-up car; the back seat and trunk full of their suitcases, and a moving van with their furniture following closely behind. The father spoke happily to his wife in the passenger seat and his two daughters in the back.

"We're finally here everyone. Take a look around." Tired from their long journey, but curious, the three females turned to look out their windows.

"It looks boring." The younger of the daughters, Angeline, complained upon seeing her new surroundings. Her father chuckled.

"I'm sure it seems boring to you now, but once we settle in and explore a bit, I'm sure you'll love it here." The older daughter, Lily, sighed at this.

"I don't understand. Why'd we have to leave Colorado? All our friends were _there_, not here." She frowned and looked over at him.

"Now now, Lily, my job needed me here. Besides, aren't you happy we're closer to your Uncle Charlie and Aunt Rose?"

"I guess…" She grumbled quietly, turning back to her window. After a few minutes of driving through the streets, they pulled into a driveway and stopped.

"Alright, let's unpack!" Groaning at the amount of work that was going to take, the two girls opened their doors and stepped outside, Lily leaning on the car for support as her legs got used to standing again.

Grabbing onto two suitcases, Lily carefully made her way over to the front door of the house, which was made difficult by her permanent limp. Nevertheless, she refused any help from her family members and after some work, made it up the stairs and into what would be her room. Setting the luggage down, she sat on the bed and took a look around.

It was a plain, average-sized room with a bed in the upper-right corner and a window next to it. The walls were a warm yellow color that seemed to make the room brighter than it actually was. Glancing out the window, she saw her front yard, and her sister dragging one of the bigger suitcases from the car to the house. Laughing quietly at the sight, she leaned back against the wall and closed her eyes for a moment. Hearing people talking outside, she opened them and looked back out.

She saw four boys who looked around her age standing in front of her yard, talking amongst themselves.

'Probably wondering who we are.' She thought before getting up and making her way downstairs. Stepping outside, she glanced at them for a moment before looking over at her father.

"Need any help?" She called over. He looked up and smiled.

"Can you get Angeline's other suitcase? I don't think she can carry it." She nodded, but before she could take another step, said sister came rushing out and around her.

"I can _too_!" Lily laughed and began the trek over.

"Alright, how about this? We carry it together." Angeline thought for a moment, before smiling up at her.

"Okay!" Taking a hold of one corner while Lily took the other, they carefully made their way over and set it down.

"Can you take it upstairs, or should I?"

"I'll do it!" Once more, the younger one dragged it in, unable to lift it on her own. Lily shook her head and looked up, remembering the boys who were standing there.

They had completely stopped talking, and were now just standing there, staring at her, before noticing she was now looking at them and quickly turning away, whispering to each other. She raised a brow in confusion, before remembering an important detail about herself and practically running inside in a panic.

'Shit, my limp! Great, now everyone's just going to stare at me and I'll never make any friends. Just my luck.' She growled and then sighed. 'Dammit…'

Her inner monologue was interrupted when she heard a knock at the door. Quickly getting herself together and turning around, she was surprised to see it was one of the boys; a brown-haired kid who looked scrawny compared to the others. They stared at each other for a moment before Lily cleared her throat.

"Uh…yes?" The boy broke their stare and looked at the ground, then around him.

"Uh, yeah. So, you're the family that's moving in?" She nodded.

"Yeah, we just got here."

"Cool. I, uh, live down the street, so I was wondering who would be moving here."

"Oh." They were silent for a few seconds. "So, um…" She opened the door, taking a step outside and held out her hand. "I'm Lily. Lily Levantine." The boy turned back to her and shook her hand.

"I'm Gordie Lachance." They let go and Gordie turned around to point out the others, who were still standing in their spots, watching them. "Those are my friends, Chris, Teddy, and Vern." He turned back to Lily, who nodded thoughtfully.

"Cool." More silence passed.

"I…have to go now, but…I'll, uh, see you around?" Lily nodded again and opened the door to go back inside.

"Yeah; see you around." Gordie turned and walked back over to his friends, and they walked off together, talking to each other again.

'Psh. Probably talking about me and my freaky limp. Stupid boys; I hope I never see them again.' And with that, she walked back upstairs to unpack.

"So her name's Lily; she seems nice enough." Gordie explained.

"I think she's kinda cute." Vern said optimistically.

"Yeah, but what the hell's with that limp? Weirdo."

"Teddy, you're one to talk." Chris defended, earning him a small punch of the arm.

"You shouldn't make fun of her. She was probably in some bad accident or something." Gordie kicked a small pebble.

"Still, it's pretty freaky." Looking up, Teddy saw his friends giving him deadpan looks.

"_What_?" The three shook their heads and continued on walking.

"Seriously, Teddy…"

A/N: Well, that was a lot better than the original first chapter, if I do say so myself. :'D Leave a review and tell me what you think of it!


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Well shit, sorry for disappearing again. Hopefully I didn't completely lose everyone and I'm more active this year with my writing.

Disclaimer: I do not own The Body/Stand By Me. I am only using it for entertainment purposes.

Claimer: I own this fanfiction and any characters that do not appear in the book/movie. Please do not use without permission.

**Chapter 2 - First Impressions**

It was the next morning, and already the sun was beating down on Castle Rock, making it a struggle to remain outside for an extended period without becoming slightly dizzy. Lily and Angeline were advised by their father to avoid going outside that day; only if they really needed to. Not having to be told twice, the sisters obeyed the suggestion and remained inside, relaxing and planning out what they wanted to do once the temperature went down somewhat.

Lily was in her room, lounging on her bed, and reading a book. She yawned, the heat making her too lazy to really do anything that required getting up. Hearing the clock downstairs chime, she blinked and looked over at her own clock. It was only eleven, and time just seemed to slow down more as the day went on. Groaning with a feeling that she had already been through a full day, she made up her mind to go downstairs in search of a cooler climate. With a sigh, she closed her book, heaved herself up into a standing position, and limped slowly over to her doorway.

Clutching the frame, her mind fogged for a moment from becoming overheated. Blinking slowly and standing up straight, she carefully made her way over to the staircase. Unable to look down without her vision spinning, she closed her eyes and sat herself down, leaning up against the railing. Hearing someone coming up the stairs after a few moments, she opened them and saw it was her mother. Lily looked up at her as she passed, but Mrs. Levantine seemed to avoid looking at her and pretend she wasn't there. After she disappeared through a doorway down the hall, Lily shook her head and looked back down at the stairs.

"Heh, typical. Just typical." Finding some strength within herself, she stood up and began the journey downstairs.

After finally making it without any injury, she wandered over into the living room and plopped herself onto the couch. Once more, as her mother came back downstairs and passed her, she didn't so much as glance toward her daughter. Lily didn't pay any more attention to this and opted for rolling over onto her side to take a nap.

_Chapter2Chapter2Chapter2_

The four boys were once again in their treehouse, playing a game of cards. However, this time around, nobody was really concentrating on who was winning, or even cared for that matter. Teddy wiped some sweat from his forehead.

"Your move." Chris grumbled to Teddy. Said boy raised an eyebrow after a moment.

"Hm?" Chris leaned over.

"Your. Move." He said more clearly. Teddy frowned at him.

"Alright, alright…Damn…" He looked down at his cards and then at the cards on the table. He looked back and forth another few times before finally looking up.

"What were we playing again?" The other three groaned in unison.

"What? It's hard to focus in this damn heat!" Teddy complained.

"…Do you think I have a chance with that Lily girl?" Vern said from his seat in one of the corners after a few seconds of silence. Gordie looked over and Teddy scoffed, while Chris attempted to recall exactly how the game was going before.

"Pfft! Please Vern, even limp-girl is out of your league." He laughed, while Gordie raised a brow.

"Teddy…" He warned.

"What? I can't be freaked out by certain kinds of people?" Chris looked over at his friend.

"He's right, Gordie, didn't you know? It's called being an _ass_." He said the last part as he turned over to face Teddy. Gordie and Vern laughed quietly as Teddy seethed.

"You asking for it, man?" He threatened. Chris smirked and rolled his eyes.

"Excuse my rudeness, it must be the heat." He said sarcastically.

"Bullshit. You _never_ liked me, did you?"

"Teddy…"

"Don't 'Teddy' me!"

"Quit being an idiot!"

"Oh, so now I'm an idiot? Well guess what I think about you? _You're _a-"

"Girls, girls; you're both pretty." Gordie interrupted, not looking up from his cards. "…Alright, seriously, what were we playing?"

The argument seemed to stop instantly as everyone tried desperately to recall the game. Teddy seemed to burn a hole through his cards with his stare. After a few moments of silence, he sat up and threw them to the makeshift table, not caring where they landed.

"Screw it, I give up." Chris sighed and leaned back into one of the walls, his head tilted to look upward.

"What do you guys wanna do now?" He asked, seemingly talking to the ceiling.

"Dunno." Gordie mumbled, gathering the cards and arranging them in a neat pile.

"We should see if Lily wants to hang out." Vern suggested, smiling hopefully. Teddy sighed roughly.

"Listen, Vern, I'll be as straight with you as I can so you don't miss anything. She isn't-"

"You know what, Vern? That's a great idea." Chris sat up and looked to Gordie, who nodded to confirm that he thought so too. Vern smirked over at Teddy.

"_What_? Why are we-"

"Teddy, Gordo here said it himself; she seems nice enough. And hey, you never know; we could have a new best friend on our hands here. Might as well snag her before all the stuck-ups do, right?" Chris dangled this bait in front of Teddy and waited patiently for an answer.

"…I _guess_…" Teddy grumbled, looking at the floor.

"See? It's a good plan. Let's go while we have our chance." With nothing more, Chris pushed the crate to the side, opened the door, and started climbing down, the others following.

A few moments later, they found themselves trailing along the sidewalk in the direction of her house. Teddy followed behind everyone, still obviously not happy about the whole situation. He growled lowly in frustration.

"Teddy, cheer up; I can hear you hating life." Chris called from his place at the front, walking alongside Gordie.

"Whatever." Teddy snapped. Gordie rolled his eyes.

"I'm telling you, she's nice; not threatening at all." He pointed out.

"And just what's that supposed to mean?"

"I'm just saying; you act like she's gonna attack you on sight. I doubt she could walk over snap your neck that quickly, with her limp and all."

Chris and Vern laughed, while Teddy stomped to the front and passed them, completely ignoring them.

"C'mon, he's just kidding." Chris attempted to calm Teddy down.

Teddy didn't answer and was silent the rest of the trip. At last, they arrived and walked up to the front door. Gordie knocked on the door and stood back. After a few moments, they heard the tapping of footsteps and the door opened to reveal Lily's younger sister. She saw that it was complete strangers at the door and hid halfway behind the door shyly.

"Um…y-yes?" She chose to look at the ground rather than these new people.

"Hi; I'm Gordie." He smiled in an effort to calm her down. "Is your sister home?" The little girl nodded.

"Wait here; I'll go wake her up." Before she trotted off, Chris interrupted.

"Wait! If she's sleeping, then you don't have to get her. We don't want to bother her." About to answer, she fell silent when she heard footsteps and looked to her right. A second figure appeared at the doorway.

"Angel, who's at the door?" Upon spotting the group, Lily raised her eyebrows in surprise.

"Oh…Hi…"

"Hey, uh…we were wondering if maybe you wanted to hang out with us for a bit; get to know each other better." Gordie spoke for the group, being the only one out of them to have spoken with her before. Lily was silent and she considered this.

"…Uh…How long? 'Cause I gotta be back here for lunch." Vern decided to be brave and be the next one to speak.

"Just for a little bit. Y'know…Few minutes, maybe."

The three smiled encouragingly, while Teddy stood off to the side with his arms crossed, silently looking toward the neighboring house and frowning. Lily glanced over at him for a moment and decided that she already didn't like him. Looking back to the others, she had a different opinion.

'I guess they seem alright. Can't be that bad…' Finally, she took a breath to calm herself and smiled lopsidedly.

"Yeah, sure. Let's go." She looked back at Angeline and assured her that she'd be back shortly, while the three boys reveled in their victory. Teddy's position didn't change.

_Chapter2Chapter2Chapter2_

"Colorado? That's pretty far."

"Heh, yeah; it was a hell of a trip, but dad didn't wanna give up this job, so here we are."

The small group sat in a semi-circle under a tree down the street from Lily's house, relaxing in the cool shade.

"What's it like there?" Vern inquired, excited to hear tales of a new place. Lily shrugged.

"Boring. Nothing exciting really happened. How about here? Anything fun?"

"Nah, it's the same here." Chris replied, and the others grunted in a sad agreement. Lily laughed lightly.

"At least there won't be too much to get used to, then."

They fell into a comfortable silence, enjoying the lazy summer day. Lily thought for a moment that perhaps she would enjoy her new home more than she initially expected, when her eyes fell on the strange boy named Teddy. He was looking around and ended up glancing over at her. As soon as his eyes met hers, he scowled and quickly turned his head away. She grimaced at the not-so-subtle rudeness toward her and decided to finally speak up.

"You know, if you don't like me, you can just say it instead of acting like a baby." He still faced away, but replied.

"Alright, fine. I don't like you." He turned his head slightly, glaring at her from the corner of his eye. "And I'm not being a baby."

"Psh, whatever man." Lily turned and faced the opposite direction.

"Teddy, c'mon, she-"

"No no, Chris, it's fine. He has a right to not like me, just as anyone else does. I just don't know why he bothered following along if he hates me so much." She refused to look over to see Teddy's reaction.

"Oh please, you think I came here 'cause I wanted to? I came because they _dragged_ me over here! And you know what?" He stood up and looked down at them. "I'm tired of this; I'm outta here!" He stomped off, not once looking back.

"Sorry guys, but I gotta go too; lunch time." Lily carefully got up and walked home, not letting her limp stop her from leaving in an obvious huff.

The remaining three were left sitting there, trying to catch up with what just happened. Gordie shook his head, and Chris sighed.

"Dammit, Teddy…"


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Well. I wrote this chapter last June, so it's not exactly up-to-par with my current style of writing even with my small edits, but hopefully this rusty old bat still has it and can whip up a newer chapter in due time.

Disclaimer: I do not own The Body/Stand By Me. I am only using it for entertainment purposes.

Claimer: I own this fanfiction and any characters that do not appear in the book/movie. Please do not use without permission.

**Chapter 3 - Airplanes**

Lily spent the rest of the day inside, not daring to step out and face any of the boys again. As time passed, she felt less angry and more disappointed.

'I guess this just proves that I still can't make friends.'

Similar occurrences had happened to her back in Colorado. Her limp tended to drive people away, and she only had a handful of people her age that regularly talked to her and whom she could call friends. They had been sad when she announced that she would be leaving, but nobody had anything on what she was feeling. It took long enough to make those friends, and just as she was beginning to enjoy her life, she was being swept away by a tide and forced to adapt to completely new surroundings - something that was not her strongpoint.

After dinner, she went up to her room and locked the door, throwing herself onto her bed and moping for a long while. After she didn't come out or make much noise, her sister skipped over and tried knocking, then tried opening the door. Upon it's refusal, she banged on it harder.

"Lily, are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Lily held her head up for a moment so she would be heard, but quickly let it drop back down. She didn't hear any footsteps and turned her head to face the door.

"Really, I'm fine - just tired." She glanced at the clock across the room. "Shouldn't you be in bed right now?" Angeline could be heard groaning on the other side in reply, and Lily allowed herself to laugh a bit.

"Go to sleep. See you in the morning."

"Fine…Goodnight." She dragged her feet as she walked away, and her door could be heard closing a few seconds later. Lily reburied her face in her bedspread and voiced an annoyed groan of her own.

"I hate everyone in this whole damn town."

_Chapter3Chapter3Chapter3_

"No."

"Teddy, I-"

"No."

"Oh come on, you were-"

"No."

"God damn it, Teddy…"

"I said it before and I'll say it again. No. Fucking. Way."

"You at least owe her a note or something if you're not gonna _say_ you're sorry."

"No, I don't. I'm not gonna apologize, because there's nothing to apologize _for_."

Gordie sighed, Chris narrowed his eyes, and Vern sat back helplessly while their attempts got them nowhere. Teddy sat with his face set in a scowl as he ignored his friends in favor of drawing shapes in the dirt.

Having had enough, Chris stood and grabbed Teddy by his shirt collar.

"Hey! What're you-?!"

"You're apologizing to her. Right now." Chris proceeded to drag Teddy along for a few feet, as his victim flailed and yelled. Gordie and Vern laughed and followed along.

"Chris, I swear, the second you let go-"

"Who…said…I was letting…you…go-!" Chris struggled, but Teddy broke free. The boy angrily got up and dusted himself off, before turning swiftly on Chris, jabbing a finger in his face.

"You're walking on thin ice, Chambers!" He growled, threateningly. Chris stood his ground and crossed his arms, staring right back at his troublesome friend.

"Look, I'm not asking you to change your opinion on her; I'm just asking for you to apologize for how you treated her. It was your first time talking with her and she didn't deserve your attitude. Even _you_ know that."

Teddy was silent, his brow furrowing in frustration. Finally, he huffed and turned, walking away.

"Well?" Chris asked. Teddy didn't turn, but slowed his pace somewhat.

"Getting paper." He grumbled, just loud enough for the others to hear. They smiled and quickly followed after his retreating form.

_Chapter3Chapter3Chapter3_

Lily had woken up that morning feeling 'numb' in a sense. She had a hard time falling asleep and was still exhausted when the sunlight coming in from her window woke her up. Not hungry, she didn't bother to go downstairs for breakfast.

'I doubt I'm welcome there anyway.' She told herself. Lily's mother was always dead silent when she was around, and she didn't feel like dealing with it today after her mini-argument with the strange boy.

Angeline hurried upstairs after not seeing Lily and knocked on the door.

"Lily, are you awake? It's morning and you missed breakfast."

"I'm alright, just not hungry."

"Please come out. I want someone to play with." Lily sighed.

"Why don't you go outside and make some friends? I bet there's a bunch of kids who would want to play with you."

"I tried that yesterday, but I couldn't find anyone. Besides, I'm not allowed past the block without someone - Daddy told me so."

"…Alright, I'll be right out."

"Yes!" Angeline could be heard jumping up and down and then running downstairs in excitement. "I'll be outside!" She called. Lily chuckled, sitting up and changing her clothes.

As she opened her curtains and put away her nightgown, she heard a small tap on her wooden floor. Turning, she was met with a paper plane, sitting innocently and seemingly waiting for her. For a few moments, she didn't move. When she walked over and opened it, she saw the simple message, 'I'm sorry'. She raised her eyebrows and looked out the window, spotting the group of boys standing on her lawn, Angeline waving happily from beside them. Lily waved back and smiled a bit, before looking at Teddy. He wasn't looking at the window like the other four were, and looked terribly bored.

Thinking for a moment, she smirked and grabbed a pen, jotting down a reply on the paper. Re-folding it, she put her arm on the windowsill to hold her head as she leaned over, and whistled to get his attention. When he glanced up, she gently tossed the plane in his direction. She smiled, watching him jump to catch it and quickly unfold it. After reading it, he looked up, and looked caught off-guard. They met eyes, and Lily could swear that, if only for a second, there was some hope for the both of them. It disappeared as quickly as it had come, and he turned away, grasping the paper so hard that it crumbled and rushing off as if someone was chasing him.

Lily frowned and reverted back to her anger toward him. As she had expected, there was nothing that could be done. Scoffing at his attitude, she left the window and started downstairs. When she had arrived outside, she was met with Angeline, Gordie, and Vern.

"Sorry about Teddy. Chris just left to check on him." Gordie apologized.

"It's alright. Not like I didn't expect him to do something like that. He's just him, and I can't change that." Gordie nodded.

"We should go follow them. See you around."

"Yeah." Lily watched the two run off to try and catch up to their comrades.

"Hey Lily?" She turned and looked over at her sister.

"Yes?"

"Can you teach me how to fold those things?" Lily had to think for a moment before remembering the paper plane and smiled.

"Sure; let's go get some paper." With that, the two went off to distract themselves from what had just happened.

_Chapter3Chapter3Chapter3_

"Teddy? Are you okay?"

Teddy had stopped running after reaching the third block away from Lily's house. With effort, the other three were finally able to catch up and found their friend lounging at the base of a tree, silently flattening out the crumbled note. Chris carefully made his way over, ready to run in case Teddy was still angry and snapped at him.

"Teddy?" Just now hearing them approach, said boy quickly shoved the note aside and looked up.

"What?" Indeed, as Chris had predicted, Teddy still sounded pissed off.

"You alright?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm alright." Now he sounded both angry and distracted. Chris took note of his attempts to hide the paper plane.

"So what'd it say?" That seemed to upset him. He quickly got up and turned to leave.

"Nothing, alright? I gotta go. See you around…" He scurried off, leaving the the three confused beyond description.

"Teddy's weird." Vern flatly stated.

Meanwhile, Teddy was on his way home, unable to focus on one thing before his mind jumped to another. He paused in his stride and looked down at the note again, reading the words below his.

'I forgive you, and I'm sorry too.' Finishing the note was a small heart, followed by her name. After staring at it for another moment, he snapped out of his trance and scoffed.

"Stupid girl." He said under his breath, crumbling the paper again and preparing to throw it into a nearby trash-can. Stopping as he was about to let go, he thought about it for a few seconds. Teddy shook his head, properly folded the paper again, and put it in his pocket.

"God dammit…" He continued his walk home.

_Chapter3Chapter3Chapter3_

A/N: Words cannot describe how sorry I am for disappearing yet again and for so long. I'm trying guys, really, I am


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Welp, here I am. Let's see how much I can do this time around.

Disclaimer: I do not own The Body/Stand By Me. I am only using it for entertainment purposes.

Claimer: I own this fanfiction and any characters that do not appear in the book/movie. Please do not use without permission.

**Chapter 4 - Violent Youth**

It was a week later when Gordie knocked lightly on the front door, taking a step back and waiting patiently for any answer. Moments later, he heard footsteps approaching, and the door opened to just the girl he was looking for. Lily looked up at him and was visibly jolted by what she saw.

"Oh my god, what happened?"

She opened the door and stepped forward, inspecting the fresh bruise on his cheek and the small scrapes on his chin. He smiled meekly, absent-mindedly scratching his head.

"Think I could come in and grab a bandaid? I'll only take a second." Lily hurried to grab his arms and usher him inside.

"I- Yes, of course, come in!"

He was led upstairs to the bathroom, where she sat him on the edge of the tub and rifled through the cabinets, taking out a box of bandaids and a washcloth. She began running the water, and while waiting for it to heat up, she turned to look at him again.

"What the hell happened? Did you fall or something? It looks like someone punched you." He let out a small laugh.

"That's 'cause someone did. I'm sorry to just barge in on you like this." The washcloth was held under the water and rung.

"Not at all, I'm happy to help." She stepped over and began to gently clean the scrapes, Gordie flinching when she went over a particularly sensitive part.

"Who did this, anyway?"

"Ace Merill."

"Who?"

"He beats up on a lot of people. He's just an asshole."

"Oh. Well still, what's his deal with you? I know you didn't just go around doing stuff to piss him off." She set the cloth down and picked up a bandaid, unwrapping it.

"Who knows? It's just how he is. Plus, he's best friends with Chris' brother Eyeball, so we're a pretty easy target."

"Hm." A stern frown took it's place on her face and she smoothed out the bandage, stepping back and leaning against the sink.

They stayed like this for a few moments in silence, before Gordie decided to come out and say what was on his mind.

"Do you mind if I ask you something?"

"Uh, sure." She raised her brow in careful suspicion.

"You don't have to answer this if you don't want to, but why do you have a limp?"

"Oh. Well…" This took a moment to think on, but ultimately, she decided it couldn't do any harm.

"It's kinda hard to explain, but basically, there's something wrong with my hip bone - I think they said something about dislocation - so I can't walk normally. It hurts a lot, and I hate limping, but there's this new surgery that's supposed to fix it, so we've been saving up to have it done." She carefully explained, unable to recall specifics.

"Oh. I'm sorry."

"Why? You didn't do anything. You just wanted to know; it's alright." She shrugged and put on a small smile. "Does your face feel any better?"

"Yeah, actually. Thanks a lot." He matched her smile and got up. "Wanna hang out for a bit?"

"Sure, I'd like that."

_Chapter4Chapter4Chapter4_

They found themselves walking along the edge of town, near the treehouse, and Gordie had been careful to match his pace with hers.

"You don't have to slow down - I can walk faster to keep up with you."

"No, it's fine. I'm kinda tired, so this is perfect."

"If you say so." She frowned and kicked a pebble.

"So…" He struggled to find an interesting topic. "What do you like to do, usually?"

"Well since I'm usually stuck sitting down or in bed, I read a lot, and I like to listen to the radio. Angel likes it when I play with her, so I'm good at a lot of pretend games like house, and I'm told I make a really good queen."

They shared a laugh at this and decided to sit under the treehouse, making themselves comfortable and continuing to discuss general things about each other.

"You write stories?"

"Yeah, but only the guys are ever interested in them. My brother was too, before he died."

"Well I'm interested."

"Yeah?" She grinned.

"Absolutely. I told you I love reading, didn't I?" Gordie started to feel proud of his stories.

"I'll lend you a few of them to read later."

"Mint!"

"Gordie?" The two looked up at the sound of a door opening and spotted Chris looking down at them.

"Oh, hey; didn't think you guys were here."

"Sorry, we had the radio on and didn't hear you two." Gordie shrugged it off.

"Whatever, man. How long have you been up there?"

"Not that long. We're playing Crazy Eights - you want in?" With a glance at Lily and thinking back to the source of his injuries, he formulated a game-plan.

"Yeah sure, but I'm gonna go walk Lily home first."

"That girl's there?" Teddy noisily crawled over to the door and confirmed this with his own eyes. "Gordie, you go ahead, I'll do it."

"Uh…no, that's fine, I'll-" Gordie was cut off and scrambled out of the way as Teddy climbed down and jumped to the ground.

"Relax, I'm not gonna kill her or anything." he said defensively. A few moments of tense silence passed as Gordie thought about his motives.

"It's alright, he can walk me home."

Lily didn't appear to be too concerned, already beginning her walk in her home's direction and not really expecting Teddy to follow. Teddy, though, glared over at Gordie once more before jogging over to walk by her side. Gordie stayed in his place, keeping his gaze on them until they vanished into the distance.

"He better not do anything stupid." He finally turned and began climbing the tree.

"It's Teddy - everything he does is stupid." Chris moved out of the way to give him room. "What happened to your face, by the way?"

The walk to Lily's house seemed a lot longer than it actually was. They kept silent, neither really knowing what to say or talk about. Upon stepping up to the front porch, she turned to him.

"So, uh, thanks for walking me home. You really didn't have to."

"No, it's…it's fine." Another moment of still silence passed.

"I'm sorry. About our whole fight." He was sudden and kept his gaze anywhere but at her, catching her off-guard. She stared at him in surprise.

"No, it's alright. You already apologized in your note, though." He kicked the ground.

"Yeah well, Chris and Gordie won't let me hear the end of it if I don't say it. So yeah - I'm sorry, and crap." She snorted.

"Apology accepted; now go play your card game." With that, she quickly returned inside and the door was shut with a click.

Teddy had walked for about two blocks before stomping around and kicking whatever he could find out of frustration.

_Chapter4Chapter4Chapter4_

By the time the sun set and dinner was on the table, Lily had all but forgotten about the strange encounter. As luck would have it, though, it all came back to her as she lay in bed trying to fall asleep. What in the world was up with that boy? Day by day, he just seemed to become stranger and stranger. She briefly wondered if perhaps his brain was actually one big mechanism of puzzles that kept rearranging itself. An amusing image of opening his skull and looking into it only to see various mechanisms busily moving about and switching places with each other settled into her head.

Shaking that ridiculous thought from her mind, she rolled over and stared out the window in a feeble attempt to lull her to sleep.

A light knock on the door interrupted this.

"Yes?" She sat up slightly and called quietly. The door opened and Angel poked her head around to peek in - she looked miserable.

"I had a nightmare and I don't feel good. Can I sleep with you?"

Lily smiled and scooted over, patting the now empty area of her bed. Angel excitedly slipped in, closed the door behind her, and crawled into bed, grabbing her sister's nightgown and snuggling up as close as she could for comfort. Lily wrapped her arms around her small form protectively and yawned, adjusting her head on her pillow.

Crazy boys could wait until tomorrow - she was just too tired for them right now.

"Lily?" was murmured in a sleepy voice.

"Yes?"

"Do you think if I wish really _really_ hard, I'll stop getting sick all the time?" Lily was silent, thinking.

"Maybe." Another few moments passed. "You would have to wish especially hard, though, I think."

"Tomorrow I want to make more planes." Paper planes had rapidly become one of her favorite things to make.

"Then we will. We'll make them all day if you want to."

"I'm gonna write down my wish on all of them so that it comes true."

"That's a good idea; and what do you want to do with all of those planes?" Angel yawned and coughed a few times.

"I'm gonna make them fly all over the world." The younger girl's eyes slipped shut and Lily smiled, holding her closer.

"I'll make sure of that, sweetie."

_Chapter4Chapter4Chapter4_

A/N: I hope I'm getting better at this. Please review and come back to me, dears


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Just pointing out, unless otherwise specified, when Lily, her parents, and Angel are talking to each other at home, they normally speak in French, which is their native language.

Disclaimer: I do not own The Body/Stand By Me. I am only using it for entertainment purposes.

Claimer: I own this fanfiction and any characters that do not appear in the book/movie. Please do not use without permission.

**Chapter 5 - Carry On**

The morning sun shone brightly through the shades of Lily's bedroom, hitting her right in the face and rousing her from a peaceful sleep. Groaning lowly, she slowly opened her eyes, allowing them to adjust to the burning light, and gradually realized that she was not alone. Glancing down, she saw Angel burrowing further into her chest and recalled the previous night. She blew at her sister's bangs and smiled when she twitched in response and stirred from her dreams.

"Bon matin." Angel let out a pained murmur and looked up, her frown staying in place.

"Urm…bon matin…" Lily frowned back at her.

"Still feeling bad?" She received a nod and patted her head.

"Go back to sleep; Do you want me to go get you some juice?"

"S'il vous plaît," she said, nodding gratefully.

"You're using formal again." Lily teased in English and poked her nose playfully.

"S'il te plaît," she corrected. She received a kiss on the forehead, smiled, and closed her eyes again as Lily climbed over her and exited the room.

As she made her way down the stairs, wincing at the pain in her bone - either there was going to be bad weather today, or her hip just greatly enjoyed torturing her - she noted how although it was past eight, the house was oddly quiet. Normally, her mother and father were up already, and she'd hear the familiar sounds of breakfast getting started and their light morning conversation in the kitchen. She reached the doorway and was further puzzled to find it still in the same pristine condition her mother always left it in at bedtime. Her parents were nowhere to be found, and the only sounds to be heard were birds chirping, and the general sounds of morning life occurring outside.

Quietly getting her sister's juice, she climbed the stairs and this time checked their room down the hall - also empty. She supposed they had something important to take care of that morning, but couldn't remember if they had mentioned anything in the past week. Setting the glass down on her nightstand, she decided to try to get some more sleep herself. Climbing over Angel again, she settled in.

_Chapter5Chapter5Chapter5_

"Gordon."

Gordie looked up from one of his written stories, having been in the process of going through a few of them and picking which ones he thought Lily might like better. He lay on his bed, on his stomach, and with various papers spread out in front of him. Stories that hadn't made the cut were scattered across the floor where he had carelessly tossed them as he organized. His father stood stiffly just behind the threshold, staring passively at him as he always did, though since Denny's death, there was an added shadow of disappointment and contempt.

"Yeah dad?"

"I noticed you've been hanging around that girl who moved in down the street." Gordie raised a brow.

"Lily? Yeah, why?"

"…She your girlfriend?"

"No, we're just friends. She's really nice and we have a lot in common." Gordie turned back to his papers in slight embarrassment at the blunt questioning. He heard his dad breathe out a tired sigh and turn to walk away.

"…Can't even get an immigrant girl…" was said lowly as he left, and his son was left briefly wondering if he had been meant to hear that comment or not.

Gordie rolled his eyes and sighed in frustration. It was times like this when he was very annoyed at not being interested in girls - it wasn't like he didn't try, it just never worked for him. If he was honest with himself, he didn't think he could change even if he tried with all his might and forced himself to go ask a girl on a date. Gay? Maybe. He still wasn't entirely certain, and it was a scary thing to think about. Worried about pleasing his father? Never.

_Chapter5Chapter5Chapter5_

"Lily…Liliana…"

Groggily, she opened her eyes as she awoke a second time that morning and smiled when she was greeted by her father's warm face.

"Good morning. Where did you go?" He was sitting at the edge of the bed, rubbing the still sleeping Angel's back in comforting circles.

"We had a meeting with a doctor at the hospital in the next town over today." Lily's mind instantly woke up more at the words 'doctor' and 'hospital'.

"You did? What happened?"

"As you already know, there is a new form of surgery that can treat your condition." Lily nodded, getting nervous as she tried to figure out where he was going with this. Was the surgery defective? Were they unable to perform it on her? Was her condition really that bad that they couldn't fix it? Lily wasn't certain she could handle an entire lifetime of pain and general awkward living.

"We have been saving up as much money as we could so that you could one day get the surgery and live normally. I did not tell you this, but much of the reason we moved here was because the position available here has higher pay - enough to sustain us as well as be able to make the payments needed for your medical bills. We have been told that the surgery can be done very soon," he smiled, "within the next month, even."

Her eyes widened, and involuntarily, tears began to form. A heavy chill ran up and down her spine as the reality sunk in and she realized what would be happening. In the back of her mind, she thought that perhaps she should smile since she was happy, but at the moment, the shock was too much and she instead began to cry quietly. She opened her mouth to attempt a reply, her voice cracking as it was forced out.

"…Yes?" He nodded and leaned over to pull her into an embrace.

"Yes." She clung to him and shook with excitement and relief as her held her.

"Mm…what's happening?" Angel woke up from the commotion, rubbing her eyes and looking back and forth between her father and sister. They broke their embrace, and Lily turned to deliver the good news.

A/N: Whoops - no idea when I'll next update ahaha


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